What Powell could learn from Rhee

TOKYO – As US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell rocks and roils global markets, he may have an unlikely but pivotal ally in Seoul.

Markets everywhere are still quaking over Powell’s August 26 speech in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where he warned that higher interest rates will cause “some pain” and that the Fed’s tightening cycle may persist “for some time.”

Yet Bank of Korea Governor Rhee Chang-yong seems less shaken than most. That’s an intriguing crouch given how the Fed’s last big rate-hike campaign in 1994 and 1995 devastated South Korea’s economy, along with those of Indonesia and Thailand.

But Korea’s economy has changed radically since the 1997-98 Asian Financial Crisis. And more recently, the BOK has accepted inflationary realities and utilized its brake pedal well before the Fed decided to act.

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China imposes COVID-19 lockdowns for millions around Beijing

BEIJING:   Millions of people within areas surrounding China’s capital were ordered into lockdown Wednesday (Aug 30), with authorities doubling down on efforts to include COVID-19 ahead of a key ruling Communist Celebration meeting this year. Almost 4 million people in Hebei state, which surrounds Beijing, were ordered to stayContinue Reading

China imposes COVID-19 lockdowns for millions

BEIJING:   Several big Chinese towns escalated COVID-19 limitations on Tuesday (Aug 30), with government bodies doubling down on initiatives to contain the coronavirus ahead of a key judgment Communist Party conference this year. Nearly four million people within Hebei province, which usually surrounds Beijing, had been ordered to stayContinue Reading

Why Washington must tread carefully with Taiwan

Taipei has become a routine place to go for US lawmakers and other officials since House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s  visit to Taiwan  in early August. Her vacation was soon accompanied by a congressional contingent  led by  Senator Ed Markey, a team of industry negotiators  helmed by  Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb, and then, final Thursday night,   a third  congressional delegation. President Joe Biden’ s administration  reportedly  encouraged Pelosi […]

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